“Ugh.” She groaned before getting up from the couch to wrap her arms around her husband. “I’m just glad you’re home.”
“Are you feeling better today?” he dropped a kiss on her head.
“I am. Thank you for worrying about me.”
The roaring fire warmed the living room, and a nice glass of wine was helping to warm her insides. Tyler was the last puzzle piece she needed to completely unwind.
He pushed back just enough so he could look her in the eyes. “You miss me today?”
“I really did.” She held him tight. He was always her rock, and this struggle to get pregnant was no different.
“C’mon, sit down and tell me everything the doctor said.” Tyler urged. “And remember, just say the word and I’ll clear my day to go with you next time.”
Paige took his lead and curled up next to her husband on the couch. Looking up into his face, his eyes shined with love. She wanted to give this man a baby more than anything. “Well, no news is good news, I guess. Isn’t that what they say?”
“So, the tests were normal?” his brows furrowed in confusion. “That’s a good thing, eh?”
“Yep. Sort of. I mean, everything was normal, but still no answers.” She sighed. “But here’s the best part. The doctor suggested we go off the grid for a few days.”
“What?” Tyler looked at her confused. “That’s weird.”
“Well, let me explain.” Paige twisted so she could look into her husband’s eyes as she explained about taking time away, for even just a couple days, and reducing stress. “And I wanted to laugh. I mean she knows how busy you are and what my job requires of me. Anyway, I told her there was no way we could get away until after the season was over.”
“Hang on,” he interrupted. His eyes sparkled with a glint of determination. “If you feel like we need to do this, I will figure out how to make it work. There are ways, it just might not be a long getaway.”
“No,” she waved him off. “With Mel cutting her hours, and now that she is nearing the end of her pregnancy, she has doctor appointments, and really shouldn’t be on her feet as much as she is.”
“Stop right there, babe. I love you dearly, but you tend to put other people before yourself. I’m sure someone can pick up the slack if we need to do something for your health. There are interns for a reason. And as a last resort, you and Mel could work from home if needed. If you want this, just say the word and I will arrange it.”
She loved Tyler for so many reasons, and this was one of them. “I love you so much, Ty, and I appreciate you saying that. I just have so much going on at work, and yes, I see what you’re talking about.” She chuckled. “But it is my job.” She shrugged.
Her words were clear but the look on Tyler’s face said he was already planning something in his head. From this point on it really didn’t matter what she said, when this wonderful man that she loved made her his priority, the sky was the limit.
Tyler moved his arm from around her, so he was facing her. “You know I would do anything for you.” He took her face in his hands and pressed his warm lips to hers.
She closed her eyes and kissed him back. Her husband had the ability to make her forget about anything with one kiss.
He moved against her until they were laying on the couch. “If this is how you want me to de-stress, then I think I need to de-stress more often.” She giggled.
“Oh, I concur.” He growled as he kissed her neck. “I do think we should take this upstairs though. You know, for more stress relief. And since we both have tomorrow off, we can remain stress free well into the morning.”
She nodded with a sarcastic grin while he put out the fire. Turning to her with a devilish grin, he picked her up in his arms, which made her squeal with delight, and carried her up to their bedroom.
THIS MORNING WAS THE least stressful morning Paige had in a long time. A lazy morning in bed with her husband after a late night of love making was just what the doctor ordered, even if that wasn’t exactly what she prescribed. No matter what the problem was, Tyler always seemed to be the best medicine.
She wished they could stay in bed all day. She even considered feigning ill to make it happen. Instead, they were on their way to Tyler’s niece, Willow’s birthday party.
“Ty,” she looked over at him. “Do we really have to?”
“Yes.” He grabbed her hand. “Babe, you keep a locker room full of grown ass men in line on a daily basis. You got this.”
Paige groaned. She made sure her voice reflected her displeasure. “I guess.”
It wasn’t that she didn’t want to celebrate little Willow’s birthday, it was just the idea of spending the day with all those people, not to mention a pregnant Melanie and all those little kids.
She’d much rather spend the day in bed with her husband and block out the rest of the world.
Chapter Four
TYLER
Willow’s birthday party was in full swing. The birthday girl had already inhaled way too many juice boxes and almost all the candy from her birthday pinata. Little Ian Lafleur grabbed what he could when it fell, but Willow pulled the birthday girl card. Tyler had to chuckle, because, yep, she was her mother’s daughter – a mini-Trina through and through.
Tyler’s sister, Trina was the sweetest person, but she appeared to always be on a caffeine high. She had always been good to him and looked out for him when they were growing up, after all, he was the baby of the family.
Trina was married to Sam Morris, one of Tyler’s teammates. They liked to tease him and nicknamed him “surfer boy” for his light blond, California-like locks and his laid-back attitude.
The Kidd siblings were very close, and Paige fit right in with Tyler’s sisters.
But today, Paige uncharacteristically stuck to Tyler’s side for most of the party. Not that he minded having his gorgeous wife glued to him. It was more his concern for her mental state today. Willow had been extra-hyper all day, and Melanie had already left the party because her back was killing her.
He was proud of how his wife handled herself around Melanie, after all she was her boss, co-worker, and friend. But seeing her and her pregnancy day in and day out couldn’t have been easy for Paige.
Willow and Ian ran giggling through the hallway and into the living room, Willow downing a pixy stix as she hurried by.
“Willow!” Trina chased the birthday girl. “Slow down, kids!”
Tyler grabbed Trina’s attention, giving the children a bit of a lead. “Isn’t being wild one of the perks of being the birthday girl?”
Trina glared at him. “Oh really, Uncle Tyler? In that case, will you be sticking around to help at bedtime?”
“That goes way beyond my uncle duties.” Tyler teased. “But I stand by my statement that she is the birthday girl.”
Sam strutted into the hallway, already smirking at the situation before him between brother and sister. “What’s going on here? Are all the Kidd siblings playing nice?”
“The birthday girl is on a sugar rush. I was just saying to Tri, isn’t that part of the birthday girl’s job?” Tyler replied.
Sam looked at Trina who was off again running after Willow.
“Dance party!” Willow called out joyfully.
Sneaking a peek into the living room, Tyler saw Kat Lafleur already corralling her and Kris’s son, Ian and Willow by the television, while little Kaleb O’Conner quietly built Legos on the coffee table.
“You should ask Kaden what his secret is with little Kaleb.” Tyler pointed to the content little guy and his even more content parents.
“Oh, honey, not again. Maybe we could put a cartoon on? Or Maybe Aunt Tally will play a board game with you? Tal?” she called searching for their sister.
“I think we should get out of sight before Willow asks us to sing.” Tyler said and pulled Paige towards the kitchen.
“Go ahead you two, run away like little cowards!” Sam teased. “Someday it’ll be your turn!”
“Mommy!
C’mon! Dance!” Willow called loudly from the living room.
Tyler dropped his head at Sam’s comment. He hoped Paige didn’t catch it, but who was he kidding? Of course she did. It wasn’t feasible to console her every single time that someone made a baby comment, but he would surely try his hardest. “Babe, can I get you a beer?”
Paige was controlling her breathing and she looked like she was silently counting to ten. “Yes. Please.”
“You want to grab a seat in the–” Tyler looked into the living room. Willow was still hosting her dance party, and Trina was her back up dancer. Hank was in his little play area with the dogs, Toby and Belle, watching over him. “Maybe the dining room? Maybe Talia and Harrison are in there.”
He grabbed her hand and led her to the beer cooler.
“Speaking of Talia, I haven’t seen my older sister much today.” Tyler pondered out loud.
He led Paige into the spacious dining room. Talia sat in the corner sipping a bottle of water while Harrison Dash, teammate and married to Talia, helped himself to a veggie tray.
“Tal, where have you been? You keep disappearing.” Tyler asked his sister as they walked into the dining room.
“Who? Me?” Talia responded. Her tone was unusual. “I’ve been around.”
Talia sipped on her water.
“Hey, sis, let me grab you a beer. I think this chaos calls for something more than water. Especially if you get called on stage for the dance party.” Tyler teased.
“Oh, no. No thanks. I’m good with water.” Talia stuttered.
“Since when is your go-to drink water?” Tyler asked.
“Auntie Tally!! Auntie Tally!!” Willow sang as she ran and jumped into the unsuspecting Talia’s arms.
Willow screamed with joy, but Talia gulped and just looked green.
“Tal, you okay?” Paige asked.
A drop of sweat ran down Talia’s face.
Tyler added to his wife’s concern. “Sis, you don’t look so good.”
Tyler took Willow from Talia’s arms only seconds before Talia jumped up and ran in the direction of the upstairs bathroom.
“Is she okay?” Paige asked.
“Uh– I better go after her.” Harrison said, setting down his plate.
“Yeah. Is she okay? She looked a little green.” Tyler asked Harrison.
Willow hugged him and honked his nose, interrupting his concern. No doubt this little girl was on a crazy sugar high, and it would’ve been a lot more comical if he wasn’t worried about his eldest sister.
“Is she okay? Um, yeah, she’s fine.” He waved Tyler off. “Just um, food poisoning. Yeah, she had food poisoning and I guess she isn’t fully over it. We were trying to get away from the chaos for a minute.”
“Food poisoning?” Tyler asked, setting Willow down. The little girl barely touched the ground before she took off running in the other direction. “Yikes, maybe Tri was right. She may have had just a little too much sugar.”
“Yeah. And she hasn’t even had any cake yet.” Harrison agreed. “If you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go check on my wife.”
“I hope your sister is okay. She didn’t look too good.” Paige commented.
“Paige, can you grab Hank?” Trina rushed into the dining room, shoving little Hank into Paige’s arms.
Paige fumbled with her beer, trying to set it down before she spilled it as the happy baby boy was shoved in her arms.
“Thanks. I need to check on Talia.” Trina barely stopped before she hit the stairs. Calling behind her, she added, “I think Sam is in the game room if you want to hand him off.”
Paige looked at Tyler, her face scrunched up in confusion. “What is going on with your sisters? They are acting more hyped than usual.”
“I don’t know. Maybe Tal is just that sick and needs help?” Tyler shrugged. He never assumed to know what his sisters were up to.
“Hope whatever it is isn’t catching.” Paige grimaced.
“Yeah, because I would hate for you to have to take a day off work. I might have to be sick too.” Tyler laced his arms around his wife’s waist, doing his best to pull her close to him even though she still had Hank in her arms. Tyler kissed her cheek, then dropped a kiss on her neck. Even with the chaos of everyone in the house, the scent of Paige’s apple body spray had him wanting to skip cake and rush home. “Think we can get out of here yet? We made an appearance.”
Hank cooed and grabbed Tyler’s cheek. The baby’s little nails really dug in before he could pry him off.
Paige pulled back and smirked at Tyler’s comment. “This is your niece’s birthday.” She looked like she was going to scold him for wanting to leave, then added, “We have to at least stay for cake.”
“We like cake, don’t we Hank?” Tyler cooed to his nephew, then bobbed his head left to avoid another baby claw. And moved in for another kiss from Paige.
“Can we please not try to score in my dining room? Not to mention you’re holding my son.” Sam said, startling them, and taking Hank out of her arms. “Paige, you look good holding a baby. Ty, isn’t it about time our Captain has a little team of his own?”
Paige’s smile fell, and Tyler didn’t have time to say anything to Sam before he moved to the next room.
“Babe, he doesn’t know.” Tyler apologized. He pulled her into a comforting hug.
Paige did her best to hide the hurt he knew she felt and shrugged it off. “I know. Why would he? It just stung.”
Tyler’s heart ached for his wife. She was so strong, but then one little comment could change her entire mood.
Ali, Kaden’s wife, walked by them. She stopped and focused on Paige. “Girl, you okay?”
“Yeah... I’m fine.” Paige answered. “But I need another beer.”
Trina hurried through the dining room.
“Is Tal okay?” Tyler asked.
“Yeah, she’ll be down in a second.” Trina said.
Tyler turned his attention to Paige. “I’ll grab you another beer.” Then dropped a kiss on his wife’s head before heading to the kitchen.
Soon, it was time for presents, the attention was focused on the kids. Ian sat on the floor by Willow, and it looked like all the little guy could do to not rip into the presents himself, which was very entertaining for Tyler and Kris as they recited a fictional play by play of Willow opening the gifts, and Ian wanting to get his hands on them. After all the presents were opened and the room was filled with shreds of wrapping paper and a very happy birthday girl, it was time for cake.
“Ty, can you hit the lights, please?” Trina asked as she lit the candles.
As soon as the lights went out, the singing of Happy Birthday commenced. Tyler looked around as he sang. Willow was, as always, making herself the center of attention by dancing and making faces. Sam bounced little Hank on his hip. Trina busied herself with keeping Willow away from the lit candles.
Kris tried to wrap his arms around Kat’s waist while she did her best to hold back little Ian while he was anxious for a taste of the icing.
When he focused on Talia, it was obvious something was off. She was barely moving her lips, and she was leaning on Harrison. His arm was around her as he sang.
His sister was normally such a force. When she was in a room, you knew it. But tonight, she wasn’t being herself.
When the song was over, Willow blew out the candles, and everyone clapped. Trina plated cake and ice cream as everyone gathered around for a piece.
Tyler and Paige grabbed their plates and sat in the living room. Kris joined them.
“Where’s the rest of your crew?” Tyler asked, looking into the dining room.
“Ian wanted to sit at the table with Willow, and Kat stayed with him to make sure he didn’t dive into the cake.”
Tyler chuckled. “He sure didn’t learn that from you!”
“Nope.” Kris shook his head, nodding to his super small slice of cake, and fruit filling the rest of the plate.
“Kids generally will pick cake over
fruit, Kris. But the good news is you will have plenty of time to sway his tastes as he gets older.” Paige commented.
Tyler couldn’t help but stare longingly at his beautiful wife. She was so strong and yet still helpful to their friends, even though he knew it was hard for her, considering the topic.
“Ty, you’re staring.” Paige laughed softly, as her face turned a light pink.
“Sorry,” he mused. “You’re just so beautiful, I can’t help myself. How did I get so lucky?”
“I swear, you two always act like newlyweds. It’s nice.” Kris commented.
“Daddy!” Ian yelled as he hopped on the couch next to Kris.
Kat put her bottle of water on the floor and sat on the arm of the couch, leaning on her husband. She finished off her piece of cake, then picked at her husband’s.
“Do you want the rest of my cake, babe?” Kris asked her, with the tone that he already knew the answer.
Kat simply smiled wide and Kris handed over his plate.
“If that was anyone else, I’d say, now that’s love. Because, I’m not giving up my cake easily.” Tyler teased. Kris wasn’t a junk food kind of guy, so it was probably a given to Kat that she would get whatever he didn’t eat. But they were just as cute of a couple as Kris accused him and Paige of being.
Kat, still smiling, said with a soft laugh, “he’s a sweetheart. And it just works that he’s not fond of sweets, since I am.”
“Did you eat Ian’s too?” Paige joked.
Kat motioned to the little boy, who was bouncing on the couch in a fit of giggles. “Does it look like he gave me his cake?”
Paige shook her head as they all laughed.
“Where’s Gia and Patrick today?” she asked.
Patrick was a Renegades teammate.
“They had an appointment this afternoon and didn’t think they’d make the party.” Kris answered.
“I thought it was extra quiet around here today.” Tyler teased.
“Yeah,” Kris agreed. “My cousin never fails to make his presence known.”
Loving the Game Page 3